


Day 1: Reincarnation

by Rex501st



Series: WonderTrev Week [1]
Category: Wonder Woman (2017), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Reincarnation, WonderTrev Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 04:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rex501st/pseuds/Rex501st
Summary: Submission for day one of WonderTrev Week. Theme of reincarnation.





	Day 1: Reincarnation

The time passes with little to no fanfare. First, it’s just days. They visit the celebration happening in Trafalgar Square following the end of the war. Etta hears about the memorial set up for fallen soldiers and the crew goes to see it all. Diana walks by celebrating young lovers, a child propped on his father’s shoulders and her heart breaks more and more with each step. The pain floods back to her and she falters as she approaches the board of soldiers’ photographs. She sees Steve again and it takes all the strength she can muster not crumble to the ground. Unshed tears form in her eyes and she tries to smile at Steve’s picture but she can only manage a slight upturn of her lips before she has to turn away.

The days turn into weeks. Diana gets a job working with Etta to help with the restoration effort. The weeks turn into months. She sees more and more people returning to life after the war. Waking up, eating breakfast, getting married. All the things Steve told her about, that she so desperately wishes she could experience. With him. Only him. The pain isn’t something grand that makes you take note. It’s a dull ache that resides beneath her breastbone. Always there as a constant reminder. Steve completed his mission even after the numerous times she insisted she could be the one to do it.  _ I can save today, you can save the world.  _ His words still would ring in her ears when she would wake.  _ I wish we had more time. I love you. _ She would go back in time to reciprocate those words if she could.

The months turn into years. After seeing and doing all that there was to do in England, she decided it was time to move on. Time to explore somewhere new. To see more of this beautiful world that benefited so much from Steve’s sacrifice. Paris was absolutely beautiful. The city had been rebuilt and was thriving after the war. A center of culture that could appeal to anyone. Steve had mentioned it in passing that night in Veld, just how incredible of a place it was and Diana can only dream of seeing it all with him. 

Those years turn into decades and soon there’s another war. This one even worse and farther reaching than the one that brought Diana here in the first place. This one doesn’t have the God of War to defeat which makes it so much more troubling. Steve had said that not everyone is good. Even after it’s over, with so much pain and suffering, and loss, she still believes in love. She has to. Her link back to him is that belief. Losing it would mean losing him and she can’t lose him. She’s already lost  _ him. _ Lost his smile, his blue eyes, his voice, his blonde hair, his warmth. She’ll never be able to let go of that other part of him, part of his soul, that is embedded in hers.  

The world goes back to normal. Time goes by. Cities and towns rebuilt, territories allocated, war trials ruled upon. Diana desperately wants to go home. So much has happened since she left with Steve all those years ago. After some years of work she makes her way back to Themyscira. Her mother and sisters greet her openly without judgement or ill will. She tells them of everything she's seen. Of the good and bad, happy and sad, gaining and losing, the steps forward and steps back. Humankind has many faces and each is unique. There is only one among them that she tells about her greatest loss, her greatest sorrow. One night she falls into her mother’s arms and weeps for him. She tells her everything there is to know. His life, his sacrifice, his heart, his soul, his love. Diana cries as she describes every single detail she can remember. She cries when she talks about her pain. She misses him so much. More than she thought it was possible to miss something. How her heart aches every day wishing she could tell him just how much she loves him back. 

Hippolyta’s heart breaks for her daughter. She knows there are words to say but she can’t bring herself to say them. She wants to tell her that this is what life is like, how it takes and takes and never gives back an equal return. She hates just how much of this loss and grief Diana has had to experience. All she can do is hold her in her arms and tell her that he will always be with her. 

Diana returns to Man’s World with a heavy heart but also with a strengthened bond. She feels more connected to her home, her mother, and her link with Steve. The inevitable wheel of time continues to roll forward as humankind continues to advance with it. Technological advancements surge forth bringing society closer together. Diana finds a field of study that captures her mind. The art, culture, and history of Paris calls her name again and soon she finds herself working amongst the countless museums and art galleries. 

Her job of protecting and fighting for those that can't do it themselves never stops, albeit she keeps it low profile. Drawing unwanted attention is something she learned to stay away from. Worldwide military conflicts reduce in number and scale as nations begin to develop at a rapid pace. The advances in science, medicine, and technology continue to grow exponentially. The dawn of a new millennium rapidly approaches as the world has never been more interconnected. 

Diana does things that make her happy. Although she never stops in her pursuit to honor Steve. She lives life for herself and for him. She takes the time to appreciate the little things. There is enough joy to be found out in the world for her to celebrate all the good, even while wishing she could experience it with Steve. As the months and years go by, Diana realizes it’s getting extremely close to reaching one-hundred years since she first came to Man’s World, and extremely close to that moment when she lost Steve. It’s still over a year away but she begins to think of what she can do to celebrate the occasion. While the village of Veld and former German military base are gone, the area is still a tourist destination as a historical site. Visiting there again doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

Work takes her to London in the summer the year before that anniversary. Some special art pieces and classic statues were recently endowed following the passing of a wealthy businesswoman. Diana decides to go for herself to appraise the collection and decide what would be suitable for display. It’s been a good twenty years since the last time she had been in London and she’ll never forget how it feels. It’s gotten a little bit better looking since she first considered it “hideous” all those years ago when Steve and her arrived after leaving Themyscira. All those memories begin to flood back as she travels from her hotel room to the estate where the paintings and statues are being held. Her heart clenches as she sees couples walk down the street hand in hand. She knows it’s not right to be jealous of them but even a demigoddess like her can feel very human emotions. The work cataloguing and appraising the collection takes a few hours but a lot of the pieces are in quite amazing shape and will be an excellent get for the museum. 

Diana doesn’t have any specific schedule for when she needs to get back so she decides to take a walk through some of the older streets and districts in this part of the city. She’s never abandoned Steve’s watch from all those years ago. While it stopped ticking that moment the German bomber blew up with him in the sky, she continued to wear it or carry it with her in her purse. One time she thought she lost it during a move from one city to another and she nearly had a heart attack. She found it wrapped up in a pillowcase and cried tears of joy when she found it. It was her only remaining tangible link back to Steve and she would never forgive herself if it went missing.

She decided to wear it that day just because. On her walk back to the hotel, she felt a strange burning sensation on her wrist where the watch was. It had never done that before so she stepped inside a ice cream shop to wash her hands. Not three steps into the shop was she stopped dead in her tracks. 

There he was. 

Steve. 

Her Steve.     

It couldn’t be him. There was just no way. As if there was some sort of cosmic air about her, this identical look-alike stared right at her. Diana willed herself to give him a small smile before speeding off to the bathroom. Her hands were shaking as she bounded up to the sink and turned the water on full blast.  _ What sort of sick joke is this _ . She quickly undid the watch and threw it on the counter before splashing water on her face. Her hands were still trembling as she attempted to regain her composure. It felt as if she was slowly drowning in quicksand. After a few moments to catch her breath, she finished cleaning herself up and gathered up her things before making her way back out into the shop. 

She wanted to run out of there and never look back. As she took off for the door, this “Steve” spoke up as she walked by. His voice was even the same. “Excuse me, miss?”

It was a sort of miracle that she managed to get herself to respond. “Y-yes?”

“I couldn’t but help notice you when you walked in earlier. Have we met before? You seem incredibly familiar for some reason...”

How she was able to form coherent thoughts right now, she didn't know. “A-ah, well… I think i've met you or at least someone that looks just like you a long time ago.” It wasn’t a lie.

“Wow! What a coincidence.” He seemed so casual about it all that it made her heart break yet again. He stood up as she got closer to the table and extended his hand to shake. “My name’s Steve.” 

Diana wiped her sweaty palm on her leg before taking his in return. In the few seconds between taking hold of his hand and preparing to introduce herself, Steve’s face fell. She noticed his eyes go blank for a flash before returning to the shining blue she vividly remembered. 

_ “Diana.”  _

It was like her world was new again. He was back. All of him, still in one piece. The way he said her name as it was like the only word he knew how to say.  _ “Steve.”  _

She didn’t realize she was crying until some of her tears dropped down to their hands that were still joined. “Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve.” She kept repeating his name as he pulled her into his arms and buried her nose into the crook of his neck and inhaled that lingering scent. So individually him. Her tears continued to flow as he smoothed his hands up and down her back. She pushed back just enough to be able to look at him face to face and she saw that he was crying tears of joy as well. 

“I can’t believe this. I just can’t.” She was surprised her voice was audible to him. “How is this possible?”

“Well, you’re the immortal Amazon. I figured you’d have the answers.” He gave her a smile that she hadn’t seen in almost one-hundred years. One she never wanted to lose sight of for the rest of time.

“I think we can figure that out later. We can figure everything else out later.” She shuddered and reached for his hand beginning to drag him from the shop. “Let’s go before we cause more of a scene than we already have.”

“Whatever you say, Angel.”

She instantly hailed a cab and signaled the driver to take them to her hotel. She squeezed his hand the whole drive as if she were afraid he’d disappear if she let go. Not before long they were back at the hotel, making their way to her room. Diana let him inside first and she fell back against the door and slid to the floor as she started to cry again. Steve rushed to kneel in front of her and she threw herself against him in a desperate hug. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“I love you!” Those three words she had hung onto for a century. Always wishing she could return them while knowing she would never have the chance to. Finally she felt put together again. “I heard you back then. I never got to tell you.” She continued on in between ragged breaths. “I’ve missed you every day. Just trying to do anything I could do in your memory. I love you, I love you, I love you.” 

“Diana.” Not all that sure how to process her confession, Steve simply takes her face in his hands and brings his lips to hers.

It’s everything she’s dreamt of and so much more.

He breaks away after a time, for her, that feels too short and somehow too long at the same time. “I’m right here. I won’t leave you again. Okay? I’ll always be here.”

His words are like steel that run through her veins. Fortifying her with a love that runs deeper than all the oceans depths.

  
“Always” she repeats, “ _ always. _ ”

**Author's Note:**

> It was hard to not make this one full of angst. Sorry!
> 
> Hope you like it! 
> 
> you can find me on [tumblr](http://www.rex501st.tumblr.com/)


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